World News Quick Take

AGENCIES

■SWITZERLAND

Manners ruled on ‘Titanic’

Many British victims of the Titanic disaster in 1912 may have sunk with the ship because of their gentlemanly behavior, Swiss and Australian researchers said. After examining the economic and social backgrounds of the 2,200 passengers and crew onboard the fated ocean liner, University of Zurich economist Bruno Frey and colleagues from Queensland University of Technology found that the Britons on board were 10 percent less likely to have survived than all other nationalities. The researchers suggested that good manners — allowing “women and children first” — might have had something to do with that in the rush for the lifeboats, the Swiss news agency ATS reported. The as yet unpublished study also found that Americans had a higher survival rate than all the others when the Titanic sank in icy Atlantic waters.

■BELGIUM

‘Knifeman’ heard voices

The suspect in a deadly knife attack at a nursery suffered from “psychological problems” as a teenager and heard “voices in his head,” his lawyer said on Tuesday. But a psychiatrist nonetheless concluded two years ago that it was not necessary to commit Kim De Gelder to a mental institution, his court-appointed lawyer, Jaak Haentjens, told reporters. De Gelder, 20, has been charged with killing two babies, aged six and nine months, and a 54-year-old nurse in a macabre knife attack at a nursery in Dendermonde, southwest of Antwerp, on Friday. He was also charged on Monday with the stabbing murder of a 73-year-old woman at her home in Beveren, near Antwerp, earlier this month.

■UNITED STATES

Firefighter suspended

An Ohio firefighter has been given a six-month suspension from his pipe and drum band because he nodded to President Barack Obama during last week’s inaugural parade in Washington. Video shows Drum Major John Coleman giving the nod along with a fleeting wave as the Cleveland Firefighter’s Memorial Pipes & Drums marched past the president, the Plain Dealer newspaper said. The band leader, Pipe Major Mike Engle, said the firefighter from Cleveland Heights violated the proper decorum required in a military parade.

■UNITED KINGDOM

Man survives on whisky

A man survived more than two days trapped under his sofa by sipping from a bottle of whisky, the BBC reported on Tuesday. Joe Galliott, 65, fell against the sofa during a power cut at his home in Somerset, southern England, and could not free himself because of back problems. He remained stuck for 60 hours in that position — during which time a bottle of whisky rolled close enough for him to open it — until a neighbor became concerned that Galliott’s curtains had not been drawn for two days. Galliot spent five days in hospital recovering.

■UNITED KINGDOM

Doner kebabs high in fat

Doner kebabs, standard takeaway fare for thousands of Britons following a night out, contain “shocking” amounts of salt and fat, and many include meat that is not listed as an ingredient. A survey by food standards officers found the average kebab contained 98 percent of a person’s daily recommended salt intake, nearly 1,000 calories, equivalent to half a woman’s daily food intake, and almost 150 percent of the daily amount of saturated fat. The worst offending kebabs had 1,990 calories before salad and sauces were added, the Local Authority Coordinators of Regulatory Services said.